How do climatic change,cereal crops and livestock production interact with carbon emissions? Updated evidence from China

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Carbon dioxide emission and climatic variation have a detrimental influence on the atmosphere as well as on agriculture production. The key aim of the...     

Effect of compaction on soil CO2 and CH4 fluxes from tropical peatland in Sarawak,Malaysia

Environment, Development and Sustainability - Tropical peatland stores a large amount of carbon (C) and is an important C sink. In Malaysia, about 25% of the peatland area has been converted to oil...     

Investigating effect of proton-exchange membrane on new air-cathode single-chamber microbial fuel cell configuration for bioenergy recovery from Azorubine dye degradation

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - One of the biggest challenges of using single-chamber microbial fuel cells (MFCs) that utilize proton-exchange membrane (PEM) air cathode for...     

Evaluation of fresh and stored rainwater quality in fluoride and arsenic endemic area of Thar Desert,Pakistan

In the current study, the chemistry of fresh and stored rainwater of Thar Desert, Pakistan, was estimated during two consecutive monsoon periods. The present research deals with the variation in physicochemical parameters, total arsenic (As^t), inorganic arsenic species (Asⁱ, As^V, As^III), and fluoride (F^?) in stored rainwater (SRW) at different time intervals (1 week to 3 months). The pH of fresh rainwater (FRW) samples showed slightly acidic to neutral in nature (6.08–7.06) which were inconsistent with the reference pH value (5.6) of rainwater. The resulted data indicated that As^t and F^? levels in SRW were enhanced with time duration. The levels of As^t and F^? in SRW after different time intervals were found in the range of 194–683 μg/L and 10–35.4 mg/L, respectively. The values of As^t and F^? were 20–70 and 7–24 times higher than those of WHO permissible limits, 10 μg/L and 1.5 mg/L, respectively. The As^III was dominant species in SRW, which corresponds to >60 % of Asⁱ. The characteristics of the SRW revealed an unacceptable quality to consume for drinking and agricultural purposes in the studied area.     

Mangrove forest decline: consequences for livelihoods and environment in South Sulawesi

Mangrove forests in the tropics and subtropics grow in saline sediments in coastal and estuarine environments. Preservation of mangrove forests is important for many reasons, including the prevention of coastal erosion and seawater intrusion; the provision of spawning, nursery, and feeding grounds of diverse marine biota; and for direct use (such as firewood, charcoal, and construction material)—all of which benefit the sustainability of local communities. However, for many mangrove areas of the world, unsustainable resource utilization and the profit orientation of communities have often led to rapid and severe mangrove loss with serious consequences. The mangrove forests of the Takalar District, South Sulawesi, are studied here as a case area that has suffered from degradation and declining spatial extent during recent decades. On the basis of a post-classification comparison of change detection from satellite imagery and a survey of households, we provide an estimate of the mangrove change in the Takalar District during 1979–2011 and the consequences of those changes. Mangrove forest areas were reduced by 66.05 % (3344 hectares) during the 33-year period of analysis, and the biggest annual negative change in dense mangrove forest cover (8.37 %) occurred during the period 2006–2011. The changes were caused mainly by the mangrove clearing and conversion to aquaculture, and consequences have been increasing forest degradation, coastal abrasion, seawater intrusion, a decline in fish capture, a reduction in juvenile shrimp and milkfish, and outbreaks of shrimp disease. On the other hand, the clearing and impoundment of mangrove forests for shrimp and seaweed culture have provided a source of foreign exchange and new opportunities for employment in the study area.     

Effect of pH and alum dosage on the efficiency of microalgae harvesting via flocculation technique

Microalgae biomass is well known as a potential sustainable product for bio-based industry, which has reported encountering numerous difficulties during biomass harvesting and recovering. This study examined the effect of pH (5–12) and alum dosage (30–180 mg/L) for microalgae Botryococcus sp. harvested via flocculation technique. The optimum pH condition for Botryococcus sp. harvesting was measured to be 9.2, and the alum dosage was 100 mg/L. Both optimum values successfully harvested up to 95% microalgae biomass. This study revealed that flocculation efficiencies for alum are highly dependent on the range of pH and coagulant dosage that were applied during the process. Use of flocculation technique with alum as a coagulant represents a convenient technique for Botryococcus sp. biomass harvesting and is recommended for use in both small- and large-scale biomass industries.     

Kinetic of formation for single carbon dioxide and mixed carbon dioxide and tetrahydrofuran hydrates in water and sodium chloride aqueous solution

A laboratory-scale reactor system is built and operated to measure the kinetic of formation for single and mixed carbon dioxide–tetrahydrofuran hydrates. The T-cycle method, which is used to collect the kinetic data, is briefly discussed. For single carbon dioxide hydrate, the induction time decreases with the increase of the initial carbon dioxide pressure up to 2.96 MPa. Beyond this pressure, the induction time is becoming relatively constant with the increase of initial carbon dioxide pressure indicating that the liquid phase is completely supersaturated with carbon dioxide. Experimental results show that the inclusion of tetrahydrofuran reduces the induction time required for hydrate formation. These observations indicate hydrate nucleation process and onset growth are more readily to occur in the presence of tetrahydrofuran. In contrast, the presence of sodium chloride prolongs the induction time due to clustering of water molecules with the ions and the salting-out effects. It is also shown that the degree of subcooling required for hydrate formation is affected by the presence of tetrahydrofuran and sodium chloride in the hydrate forming system. The presence of tetrahydrofuran in the hydrate system significantly reduces the amount of carbon dioxide uptake. The apparent rate constant, k, for those systems are reported.     

Cost efficiency analysis and emission reduction by implementation of energy efficiency standards for electric motors

The industrial sector is the biggest electricity consumer in Malaysia. Electric motors account for more than 45% of the electricity consumption in the industrial sector in the country. Therefore, it is very important to implement energy efficiency standards for electric motors to reduce energy consumption growth in this sector. This paper attempts to calculate the cost efficiency analysis and emission reduction by implementing energy efficiency standards for electric motor in Malaysia. The energy efficiency standards are proposed based on the efficiency of electric motors from survey data. The study examines the potential energy, economical and environmental impacts of the implementation of energy efficiency standards for electric motors in three scenarios i.e. 0.5%, 1.0% and 1.5% of standards efficiency improvement. Standards also enable consumers to reduce their electricity bill and contribute to a positive environmental impact.     

Cytotoxicity,genotoxicity and oxidative stress of malachite green on the kidney and gill cell lines of freshwater air breathing fish Channa striata

The cytotoxicity, genotoxicity and oxidative stress of malachite green (MG) was investigated using the fish Channa striata kidney (CSK) and Channa striata gill (CSG) cell lines. Five concentrations ranging from 0.001 to 10 μg mL^?1 were tested in three independent experiments. Cytotoxicity was assessed by 3-(4, 5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay, Rhodamine 123 and Alamar Blue. The mitochondrial changes and apoptosis of MG-exposed cells were observed by Rhodamine 123 and acridine orange/ethidium bromide (AO/EB) staining, respectively. In vitro potential DNA damaging effect of MG was tested using comet assay. Mitochondrial damage, apoptosis and DNA fragmentation increased in a concentration-dependent manner. Additionally, DNA electrophoretic mobility experiments were carried out to study the binding effect of MG to double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) of cells. DNA shift mobility experiments showed that MG is capable of strongly binding to linear dsDNA causing its degradation. Biochemical parameters such as lipid peroxidation (MDA), catalase (CAT) activity and reduced glutathione (GSH) levels were evaluated after exposure to MG. In CSK and CSG cell lines exposed to MG for 48 h, a significant increase in lipid peroxidation, which might be associated with decreased levels of reduced glutathione and catalase activity in these cell lines (p?相似文献